COLLEGE FOOTBALL

COLLEGE FOOTBALL; Low Rating for Rose Bowl

Published: January 5, 2002

Miami's 37-14 trouncing of Nebraska in the Rose Bowl on ABC Thursday night produced the lowest-rated national title game since the Bowl Championship Series format began with the 1999 contests.

The 13.8 Nielsen rating fell 22 percent from the 17.8 for last year's Orange Bowl -- in which Oklahoma defeated Florida State, 13-2, for the national title. The game was played in the comparable time period. (Each rating point equals 1.06 million television households.)

Miami's stunningly easy victory was the fourth blowout in the B.C.S. this season -- the margin of victory averaged 22.7 points -- leading to lower ratings for each of the games. The Sugar Bowl's rating slipped 20 percent, the Fiesta Bowl's fell 19 percent, and the Orange Bowl's tumbled 27 percent.

The cumulative 43.2 rating for the four bowls declined 22.2 percent from last year's 55.5.

Miami raced to a 34-0 lead before halftime, leading viewers to start tuning out the game. The first half-hour of the broadcast, from 8 to 8:30 p.m. Eastern, included the pregame program and rated a modest 12.3. From 8:30 to 9:30, the rating rose to a 15.7. But with Miami cowing the Cornhuskers before halftime, the rating dropped to a 13.6 from 9:30 to 10, a 12.7 from 10 to 10:30, a 12.5 from 10:30 to 11 and concluded with an 11.8 rating from 11 to 11:30.